Talking about Laughter: And Other Studies in Greek Comedy

Alan H. Sommerstein

Abstract

This book brings together fourteen studies on Aristophanes and his fellow comic dramatists, some of which have not previously appeared in print while others were published (between 1980 and 2005) in out-of-the-way journals, collections, or conference volumes. They appear here as originally written, but are accompanied by updating addenda. They cover a wide range of topics—the nature and functions of comedy in Aristophanes' time, its connections with the society and politics of its day, the question of Aristophanes' own political stances, the light comedy can throw on classical Athenians' perc ... More

This book brings together fourteen studies on Aristophanes and his fellow comic dramatists, some of which have not previously appeared in print while others were published (between 1980 and 2005) in out-of-the-way journals, collections, or conference volumes. They appear here as originally written, but are accompanied by updating addenda. They cover a wide range of topics—the nature and functions of comedy in Aristophanes' time, its connections with the society and politics of its day, the question of Aristophanes' own political stances, the light comedy can throw on classical Athenians' perception of basic social divisions (age, gender, citizen/alien, free/slave), comedy's exploitation of the expressive resources of the Greek language, the composition and production history of individual plays, and the history of the genre as a whole. Aristophanes comes across as a poet committed to the spirit of seeking enjoyment for oneself and others, as inclusively as possible, believing that nothing was beyond imagination, that no one was contemptible save those who chose to make themselves so, that everything which could be seen, felt and experienced was of interest and could generate happiness through laughter, that we are what our past has made us, but that our nature also impels us to reach out for an ideal future.

End Matter

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